WE’RE PATIENT CAPITAL HERE TO BUILD GENERATIONAL COMPANIES

FOUNDER SUCCESS IS OUR MISSION

We’ve championed exceptional technology founders and teams for decades. Our hard fought reputation as trusted business partners is built on the foundation of our culture of value add and what we call the 'three F's':

FOUNDERS:

We succeed when the founders we back realise their dreams

FUND:

We treat our Investors’ money as our own and earn their respect

FUN:

We back founders who we want to spend time with, not because we have to, because we want to

The TL:DR

Where we add value

Founders

We mentor you, support you and help you see the blind spots and road ahead. We make sure you grow as a person and as a leader. We’re your first call. Your success is our success

talent

It’s just a dream without a team. We help you attract, retain and engage the best talent, especially senior executives and functional heads

strategy

We’re founders ourselves and have supported founders from inception to IPO and beyond. Whether it’s structuring your org chart, designing comp plans, setting up an ESOP, expanding offshore or building a GTM motion, we’re right there in the weeds with you

CUSTOMERS

We have a deep network of potential customers and distribution partners. We’ll open the door, you just need to walk through it

INVESTOR NETWORK

We’re backed by some of the leading founders, business builders and executives at tech, ASX and private companies as well as notable Australians and HNW families. This network is here to help you succeed

NEXT ROUND CAPITAL

We believe founders should expand globally where they can and that US VCs can add significant value on the ground in the US than we can from Australia. We actively work with founders to expand to the US and to secure their next round of capital from top-tier US VCs. From your pitch deck and legal to introductions that count – we're here to guide you

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THE PATH OF A FOUNDER ISN’T LINEAR

IT’S RIDDLED WITH UNCERTAINTY, CONFUSION AND STRESSFUL JUNCTURES

Fundraising shouldn’t be one of them. Because success is built on trust and transparency, here are some answers to the questions we get asked the most

What stage do we invest at?

We typically invest at the Seed, Pre-Series A and Series A stages through our earlier stage funds. We also invest in companies at the Series B stage through our later stage fund. We reserve substantial capital to continue to support our portfolio companies beyond those stages.

We typically partner with companies where there is a product in market, product market fit (or some early signs of it) and typically where there is commercial validation. We like being able to speak with existing customers and to hear how much they love you and your product.

We can also break the rules though, where appropriate, and invest in pre-product, pre-revenue or even pre-name businesses and work with the founders to bring the product and business to life. This is rarer, and done in unique cases, for example, where we know the founders well.

We love meeting founders early, and potentially investing at that stage too, so please reach out regardless of stage if you think we’d be able to add value to you and your business.

What kinds of companies do we invest in?

We are sector and technology agnostic and look to invest in exceptional founders building companies in large markets with a competitive advantage and tailwinds.

We have invested in founders leading businesses in B2B SaaS, FinTech, digital marketplaces and even hardware across industries like cyber security, construction tech, HR tech, FinTech, defense and even a D2C digital-first cremation business.

Our guiding purpose is to partner with exceptional founders building world-class businesses and helping grow those founders as people and CEOs so that they can achieve their dreams.

What do we look for in an idea and founders?

At OIF Ventures we evaluate each opportunity on what we refer to as the 5 T’s for investment.

  1. TEAM: For us, it’s first and foremost about the founders. We want to partner with founders who demonstrate great leadership qualities and vast domain expertise.
  1. TAM: Is the size of the market that the company is operating in big enough for the company to grow to a meaningful size?
  1. TRACTION: Are you able to demonstrate existing traction and early demand for the value proposition? Have you achieved product market fit and commercial validation, or some early signs of it?  
  1. TIMING: Is the timing for your product in your market, now? What are the enabling tailwinds, what are the headwinds? We don’t like to be too early or too late.
  1. TERMS: Are the investment terms fair for both the founder and our investors? We want this to be a win/win and need to make sure that both of our customers are happy.

How do we support our portfolio?

We are backing the founders to run their businesses and we want to support the founders and their teams on this journey.

Founders and teams that we back get the full weight of the OIF Ventures’ team and that of our broad and deep network: people who have built and grown defining businesses and teams across industries, functions and geographies.

We view ourselves as true partners who are here to support you in whatever way we can. We can’t guarantee the outcomes, but we can guarantee we’ll try our best.

We think of value-add across a few different aspects, in addition to the capital, including:

  1. Talent: Helping founders attract, retain and engage the best talent in market to grow their teams and businesses. This is especially at the senior levels.
  1. Customer and distribution partner introductions: Our extended network of potential customers and distribution partners is for you to access and we’ll connect you with the relevant opportunities.
  1. Mentorship: Not only is the OIF team comprised of some of Australia’s leading entrepreneurs and business builders, but our deep network of leading operators and our community of founders are here to provide operational and strategic advice when you need it most.
  1. Offshore expansion: We will actively work with you to expand internationally, taking advantage of our strong US network. We can help you with what you need most – from scaling your operations, hiring the right people, to setting up your GTM plan so that you can hit the ground running.
  1. Next round capital and M&A: We’re your partners for the long run, as you continue to grow, we’ll give you the edge for success, from helping you secure additional funding from top tier VCs or assisting all the way through with M&A processes.

We encourage founders that we are looking to invest in to speak to any of the founders that we have backed previously. We trust we have earned their respect as partners who have added material value to them and their businesses and that they would vouch for us.